Freshman year! It's an exciting yet stressful time. You just moved out, are learning how to live with a roommate, making new friends, all while juggling school and social life. So much is happening that it feels at times that you don't have your head on straight.
As a former undecided major, here are five reasons why I think college freshmen shouldn't have a major.
Most people are taking classes unrelated to their major anyways.
Let's face it, during your freshman year, you aren't really taking classes in your major. Most people are taking gen-eds like geology, biology, chemistry, literature, history, etc. It's hard to know if the major you declared when you came into college is the right one for you, especially when you aren't taking classes that are associated with it. Instead, take classes that you find an interest in and also knock out the gen-eds. You might find a major through that process.
It gives you time to learn about yourself.
Going from high school to college is a big transition in a person's life. You learn much more about yourself once you are living away from your family and friends from home. High school can sometimes be limiting, but in college, the world is wide open. You can take ballet classes at the rec center, work in the admissions office, join clubs that make a significant change on your college's campus, and much more. Taking time to do things you love can help you learn more about yourself.
You have time to do it.
Freshman year is just the beginning of a four-year journey! You have time to think about what you want your college major to be and what you want your future career to look like. You can go to the career center or different advisors on campus and learn more about what careers are out in the job market and how you can organize your skills and interests into a job you love.
You have the freedom to take classes you like.
When I was an undecided major, I didn't have a set curriculum of classes that I had to take. I took gen-eds to get them out of the way, but even with that, I had a lot of flexibility to take the classes that interested me. My first semester included classes like world politics, Spanish, environmental biology, literature, and introduction to education. These courses are totally unrelated, but they all interested me, and I was able to knock out some of my gen-eds with them. I was able to learn what I liked and what I didn't like, what I wanted in a career, and what I didn't want in a career. I realized I loved writing and English in my literature class, but I also realized I wasn't into math or science through my biology class.
Most people don't really know what they want to do.
Ask any adult; they had no idea what they wanted to do in college, and most will still tell you they don't know what they want to do with the rest of their life. There's an idea in the minds of all incoming college freshman that says they should know exactly what major they want to declare or what career they want when they graduate college. When I was applying to schools, I thought I had to know exactly what I wanted to do and what major I should declare. But I soon realized I wasn't alone with this thought. Honestly, no one knows what they want in a major or career. The job market is expanding so rapidly with so many jobs and careers being created that it's hard to narrow down your "dream job" to one job.
So if you're a high school senior panicking about what major you're going to declare for college, don't stress too much. You aren't alone, you don't have to have everything figured out right now, and you have time.
